


Heart's On Fire

by venomousOctopus



Category: Kill la Kill
Genre: Character Death, Established Relationship, Iori suffers a lot, Life Fibre Hybrid, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 11:25:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1777366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venomousOctopus/pseuds/venomousOctopus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had his distinct blue hair, neatly styled into a bowlcut, the jagged lenses, the same height, same body- but it's not the same. His eyes were blood red instead of the emerald greens they were before, and his smile held a twisted malice to it that made Iori's throat clench. He was dressed in all white, and Iori would have swooned with how nice he looked if his suit wasn't resembling the COVERS that he was supposed to have been consumed by. </p><p>Iori didn't like it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart's On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> The premise of this is actually based on a series of drawings chappa-san (@chappappa on twitter) drew, where Inumuta was wearing a COVERS suit and presumed to be heavily affected by them. A bunch of other artists that draw ShiHou, including poncotsu-san, mochigome-san and Chitase-san also drew some of him, especially with Iori. You can find chappa-san's drawings of COVERSInumuta/Iori here:  
> http://pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=manga&illust_id=44000910
> 
> As for how COVERSInumuta actually works, think of it like Junketsu-Ryuko.

"I-Inumuta...you..."

Iori could not believe it- refused to believe it. The hacker was devoured by the COVERS; he knew this. He saw it happen in front of his eyes. He could still remember the fear he felt when he couldn't hear footsteps behind him anymore. The image of Houka's legs being shot through and held down with life fibres was branded in his mind forever, the weak smile the other gave, the blood on the grass sealing his fate. Iori remembered distinctly the final words the other left for him- never could forget it, as it was the only thing that rang through his mind whenever he continued to work at Nudist Beach.

"Lady Satsuki and I...we both failed to change the world, huh. Iori, I trust you to do what we couldn't. I'm sorry...I-I'm so...sorry."

Iori refused to believe the man in front of him was Inumuta Houka. He had his distinct blue hair, neatly styled into a bowlcut, the jagged lenses, the same height, same body- but it's not the same. His eyes were blood red instead of the emerald greens they were before, and his smile held a twisted malice to it that made Iori's throat clench. He was dressed in all white, and Iori would have swooned with how nice he looked if his suit wasn't resembling the COVERS that he was supposed to have been consumed by. Iori didn't like it. It made him antsy. If the COVERS are now using disguises to lure them all away, then they are capable of evolution, aren't they? That worried him.

Though the tailor was more worried that he might actually fall for their trap.

"You think I'm a dream? How cute, Iorin, you still think of me, don't you?"

He flinched at the use of the familiar nickname, and refused to answer, afraid that what he wanted to say would be strangled out by the growing urge to give in and believe in him.

The monster- calling him so made it easier, Iori finds- the monster took one step forward, cutting through the gap between them with no care. He was close- too close, only an arm length away, and the tailor's chest felt tight, as if the air itself was choking him. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the ground, biting his lip to prevent himself from uttering a sound.

So easily broken was the blonde's vow of silence, with a simple hold and a tilt upwards of his chin. Inu- _no_ , the monster's- red eyes met his, and even through them, Iori could still see the faint remnants of the greens he used to get lost in. His lips parted, and he breathed out a quiet "H-Houka", more out of instinct than anything else.

"That's right~ I'm Houka, yes? Houka. It feels so nice when you call me that, Iorin"

Realizing what he had done, the tailor tried to push him away, each touch bringing a warmth to his hands that was painfully familiar. Inumu- no, the monster- didn't budge, and instead, moved his body closer so their chests touched. He was warm, like any other human, but the distinct lack of a heartbeat broke the illusion. Iori focused on that difference instead of the white-gloved hand that gently caressed his cheek, reminding himself, over and over:

He's a monster. He's not Inumuta. He's not Inumuta, he's not Houka-

"Don't you miss when I used to do this to you?"

Of course he did, he still would rest his own hand on his face whenever he slept for even just a second of comfort.

"Poor, poor, Iori~ You must have missed me quite a bit. Don't worry, I'm here now, I'm here now. Don't be sad anymore, Iorin."

Iori's body shook, and he blinked rapidly before closing his eyes so Hou- the monster, couldn't see. Every word from the white-dressed male, so very, very similar to the 'Go to sleep's and 'I love you's the tailor was used to, shot a nerve through him. Each syllable a punch. Each 'Iorin~' a stab wound.

His mind screamed at Inu- the fake Inumut- _no_ , the _monster_ , to stop. Stop and bother someone- anyone else. His hands shook too much to do anything besides hang beside him limply, and his breathing got shallower and shorter.

He couldn't remember when or who shot the COVERS with a life fibre pin, all he remembered was that the nightmare was over.

 

XXXX

 

Aikuro Mikisugi made sure to have Iori in perfect condition before he decided to ask a favour from him, and though he was still hesitant about letting the tailor examine the odd COVERS phenomenon, Iori had reassured him multiple times that he would be fine. Mikisugi has spoken to enough students to recognize the quiet tremor in his voice, but decided not to argue, quietly leading him to the room where the COVERS that took Inumuta's form slumbered almost peacefully, pinned and subdued by a series of tranquilizing clothing pins. Mikisugi took note of the shuddering sigh the small boy gave before he entered the room, scissors, scalpel and needle in hand.

He covered the creature's face with a piece of cloth before he started. Any distraction, especially involving _him_ would be disastrous right now. He started by trying to remove the white collar of the COVERS suit, and found that it couldn't move at all, and seemed to pull up and stretch, much like skin. With a bit of prodding and forcible removal by scalpel, he spotted fine red threads connecting the immaculate white suit with pale human skin. There seemed to be no punctures, no holes, no, not even a single mark or blemish that indicated where the red fibre was connecting to the skin.

He had never seen this phenomenon before, not even in the COVERS that take human hosts. Running his gloved fingers along the small patch of skin he uncovered, he finally realized what had occurred.

"It really is...you, Inumuta"

He didn't know it was possible, for COVERS to allow symbiotic existence with a human being, but that was the most logical hypothesis here. The life fibres of the COVERS was sewn completely on his skin, leaving only Inumuta's head and neck naked, and though his personality was affected heavily with the Life Fibre hive-mind, there were distinct remnants of it. The COVERS never evolved to take on human disguises, it was all Inumuta himself.

Now whether that was good news or not, Iori didn't know.

He allowed himself to snip one life fibre, checking to make sure that all the pins were in place before he did so. Immediately after cutting, the other red threads on Inumuta's neck unraveled itself to create a deep gash instead. Oddly enough, there was no blood. Not even a small leak. He carefully pushed back the gash to take a look inside and gasped when he saw the muscle tissue cloaked in what appeared to be a semi-transparent red cloth. It shimmered under the light of the operation room, and released small threads that crept and crawled through the large cut before slowly sewing the skin and the suit back up again. Iori watched the occurrence speechlessly, half-disgust and half-fascination. He knew life fibres were intelligent, but to be able to completely overtake a human like that... He wondered for a moment if it was even possible to defeat them.

With his testing done, he took his tools and walked out of the room, looking back once to make sure the cloth was still on the mon-, no, Inumuta's face before he left.

 

XXXX

 

"Iorin, Iorin, Iorin, How are you?"

Iori didn't reply, glancing over to the single fabric pin that was on the floor. Inumuta's arms and legs were still pinned, but it seems he was now awake.

"It's mean to ignore me, you know, you might feel great but I feel terrible~"

"I don't care"

"So cruel."

"Shut up, Hou-, Inumuta, don't talk. Please"

"But-"

"Stop. I'm only here to make sure you were still under." He reached down to pick up the tranquilizing pin, rolling it between his fingers before he sighed. "I suppose I have to get a new one of these"

"Are you going to put me to sleep again? What's so bad about me? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Inumuta, your comments are unneeded right now"

"I just want to know, Iori, I want to know everything. What have you been up to since I died~?"

The casual way in which he spoke of the event caused Iori to clench the pin between his hands and turn his head. "I-I've been...doing fine. I still work for Nudist Beach. Matoi is still under but I believe she has the capabilities to wake up..."

"Oh, haha, you're _still_ working here? Even after both Satsuki and I failed?"

A sharp intake of breath was heard from the smaller boy, and his voice was as cold as glaciers when he replied. "Lady. It's _Lady_ Satsuki"

"Right, right"

The laughter the other released was hearty, yet light, not that much different from what Iori was used to hearing. There was a faint tone of condescension to the laughter, but that wasn't anything new, though Iori had always liked his sincere laughs the most. When the two were eating lunch together or working and with one comment, the hacker would have burst into giggles and a wide smile that took him years to develop. In the back of his mind, Iori realized he probably won't ever hear it again.

"Iorin, you know I missed you, right~? Did you miss me?"

"I miss Inumuta Houka, yes. Still do, actually"

"Silly, you don't have to miss me anymore, I'm right here!"

"I can miss what you used to be, can't I?"

Iori noticed the COVERS hybrid scowl for a moment, his sharp teeth clearly visible from underneath his pale lips. A shiver ran down the blonde's spine but he stood his ground, and it wasn't long before Inumuta's mouth turned back into a devious smirk.

"Iorin~ You're so cruel, I'm just the same, you know. I just want to be with you again, I fought off COVERS for you so I could be with you again. You aren't happy? Would you rather I stay dead?"

The tailor remained silent, but turned his face away from the other.

"It's almost impossible you know- to take this form. I know we researched how to extract the human from a COVERS but we never found a lead, huh? I could have been gone forever but I'm still here, Iorin, because of you."

"...Is that...so..." Iori raised his head, and took a tentative step closer to the table where Houka lay.

"I didn't want to leave you, never, ever"

He didn't know whether it was guilt or something else that made him step closer, slowly inching his way next to Inumuta like a fish to a lure. Whether he was going to get what he wanted, or be yanked out of his routine to die, suffocating, he didn't know.

"I love you, Iorin"

He was willing to take the risk.

 

XXXX

 

Iori learned a few more things from his encounters with the COVERS-hybrid Houka. He was touchy-feely. _Very_ physical. Houka's white-gloved hands would always find themselves brushing beneath the fabric of the tailor's lab coat, running the tips of his fingers across his rib cage, rubbing and massaging at his hips and chest, tracing small circles on his smooth stomach. His fingertips pulsed with the energy of the life fibres inside him, leaving an odd tingling sensation on his skin wherever Houka touched. It was annoying, painful even, as no matter how much Iori begged to be pushed up against the wall and taken right then, the COVERS hybrid touched for a different reason.

More than anywhere else, Inumuta loved having his hand over the blonde's chest. To simply rest his palm over the area where Iori's heart lied and close his eyes.

"I want to feel you Iori. You said so yourself, didn't you? I'm not human anymore."

"I want to know I'm still with you, I want the proof"

 

XXXX

 

Inumuta Houka was also now prone to violent fits, snapping from playful giggles to rage-filled commands at the turn of a second. He always smiled either way, but the sneer he had in his more irritable moods always gave Iori a sense of dread.

It hurt. Seeing Houka snap. He yelled and ranted, and although there was a melodramatic flair to it, the barely-contained facade of sophistication made it all the more unsettling, Iori finds. His eyes seemed to glow more red and he waved and slammed his hands around carelessly, all the while he kept his smile and walked with his posture poised. His body always shook and his breathing laboured, but he would never resort to curses, never to unintelligible screams. The bruises from where Houka had held him these times, the rough pushes and pulls, the scratches and marks from his fingers tightening around him- none of that hurt as much as the expression he wore when Iori genuinely looked.

One of regret and anger, the pain of holding back the Life Fibres. Eyes that wanted to cry and give up but has no chance to do so. Iori knew it took every last ounce of will Inumuta had to make sure the Life Fibres didn't take over, and whether these anger fits were because Inumuta's will faltered, or his own frustration with the situation, Iori didn't know.

The blonde always remained silent. The injuries will heal in due time, and they were numbed by the guilt he felt regardless. He found that holding the other calmed him down considerably, his heartbeat reverberating through the hybrid's hollow chest as his breathing slowed. Houka's tight grip on the blonde's arms would loosen, and they would move down to wrap and lock around his waist. Bringing him closer just to hear and feel the steady thu-thump, thu-thump, that served as proof.

Inumuta would always say sorry. Iori never forgave him.

 

XXXX

 

Days, weeks, and finally a month passed since that incident at Honnouji. About three weeks has passed since Inumuta died, and about two and a half weeks before he returned as a COVERS hybrid. Each day brought no new breakthroughs. No new information. It seemed to Iori that Nudist Beach was doing nothing but struggling and protecting their own territory, however small it may be. With each day, the question of 'when will Ragyo strike?' 'When will the COVERS takeover outside of Japan?' Weighed heavily on his mind. With each day, he found nothing to answer that question, nor a method to figure it out.

A glance at Inumuta and he grit his teeth. How absolutely useless were they all? They lose one ally and they couldn't make any progress whatsoever. Iori always knew the former hacker was a major support to their entire operation but he hoped that if anything had happened to him, they could all keep running, somehow. Iori hoped he could have made progress, make both Inumuta and Satsuki proud by carrying on their legacy, but with each day, each week- with each Nudist Beach agent devoured by COVERS, with each funeral Mikisugi hosted for their lost comrades: he found it more and more difficult to keep his hope.

The COVERS hybrid never helped either. In the past, Inumuta Houka was always seen as a coward. He raised his arms, tucked his tail in between his legs and gave up as soon as the situation got too difficult instead of fighting on as best he could. That was never really the case, Iori knew, because in the end, his cowardliness is the means to an end. By giving up today, he could find another method to succeed in the future. If he was truly interested in something, Inumuta would never give in or give up; that's why he was part of the prestigious Elite of Honnouji Academy, wasn't he?

"Why do you still fight, Iori? Life fibres are impossible to best, you know"

Even if his mind was resisting the Life Fibres, it was inevitable that their will still shone. Every observation, every theory, every experiment and test: they all ended in failure and Houka would simply chuckle and say "An obvious outcome~ You can't beat us"

And although Houka was still alive, he was never _alive_ , Iori knew.

"Lady Satsuki is dead you know"

"Mhm"

"And I can not help you, you know"

"Mhm"

"All your bases are gone, Iorin, there's only you left. Sanageyama? Jakazure? Gamagoori? They can do nothing but fight but for how long?"

"Mhm"

"Mikisugi and Kinagase too, I doubt they can truly change the outcome themselves either. I mean, we _did_ sniff them out so easily back then, didn't we~?"

"Mhm"

"There's no point. No point, Iori. Give it up."

"..."

"Life fibres aren't so bad, you know, the power and warmth of a Goku Uniform but in your entire body- ah~ It's heavenly"

Iori scoffed as his gaze fell on the remnants of a faint bruise on his shoulder. Liar.

"Please Iori, give it up. We could be together again, truly. Please?"

He wanted nothing more than to end this ordeal and be with Inumuta again. To visit each other's dorms, cook dinners together and lie down with his head on his lap as the other worked or played some game on his PDA. Even if they did beat the COVERS and Ragyo, even if it was possible to return the world to normal, Inumuta Houka is dead and remains dead.

Iori snapped. "And how do you suggest that?! Do you want to run away? Well, unless it is to another planet, we will die regardless! There's nothing I, there's nothing _we_ can do! The COVERS will take over, and the Earth will die, there's nothing left for humanity." Iori took a deep breath and clutched his shoulders, hunching over a little. "And even if we do save the world, what then? You're dead, Inumuta! You're dead to me! You may pretend and I admit, I play along too but things will never be the same. I- I..." He could feel his throat tightening, and he rapidly blinked his eyes before he just closed them. "I...It's not the same. I love you Inumuta, I really do but don't...don't pretend you're Houka." A shuddering sigh came from the small boy before he whimpered, breaking into a subdued and quiet sob.

Inumuta remained silent, letting the other cry for a bit before he got off his seat and stepped closer. He wrapped his arms around the boy's chest, and draped himself across his back. He hummed as the tremors and shakes of the tailor vibrated through his body, and nuzzled his cheek on the blonde's hair.

"Iorin, don't cry, please don't cry"

He got a grunt in response.

"We're not running away, we're not pretending but I promise, I promise, Iori, you will be happy.

"...Hah, it's been so long since I knew that, Inumuta. I doubt you can..."

"Trust me, Iorin, this one time."

Iori sighed, and wiped his cheeks before looking up at the other, his eyes blank and empty. The tailor knew he was making a horrendous decision but he couldn't bring himself to care as he relaxed in Inumuta's arms. "...What is your plan...?"

"...Iori, you know how COVERS need a human host to stay mobile, yes?"

 

XXXX

 

His body felt warm, and his mind felt empty. He could feel nothing but the energy humming around him and a steady beat that continuously pulsed through his being and the air around him. Occasionally, he would recall something that he needed to do, but a voice would ring through his mind, clear as wedding bells, and dispel any thoughts he might have.

Together in body and mind, his energy was now Inumuta's, and although he couldn't move, say anything or even think anything, the other blanketed him from the world and held him in sleep, like he used to so many times before. It was easy enough to forget and let go.

"Together forever. You're happy now, right~? When has my predictions ever been wrong, Iorin?"


End file.
